Feeding 10.5 month old who has never taken a bottle!

Hello Ladies,

My 10.5 month old is exclusively breastfed and has never taken a bottle. My husband and I have not been on a date night since before she was born and have been wanting to get out and enjoy eachothers company! My mother has offered many times to watch our little one while we go out on a date night and we are going to take her up on her offer..finally! My concerns are how my mother will feed and put our little one to sleep. My little one has refused the bottle a couple of times that we have offered and the last time we offered was when she was 3 months old. She eats solids pretty good now and still nurses quite a bit during the day about 6-8 times plus about 3-4 times during the night (i'm thinking its mostly comfort nursing), we co-sleep. She drinks water out of a sippy cup with a straw and loves it. Would you recommend that my mother offer breastmilk in a bottle or her sippy cup with a straw? I know she could go 3-4 hours without nursing but we are planning on going out a night and she will need to eat before she goes to bed. Also, putting her to sleep is quite the challenge. She co-sleeps with us and I usually nurse her down to sleep, it's really sometimes the only way she will fall asleep! My concerns are that my mother won't be able to put her to sleep since she won't be able to nurse. She does love my mother so i'm not worried about her being uncoomfortable with someone she doesn't know. Also, she usually wakes up 2-3 times before 8-11pm and I have to nurse her back to sleep. She is not the best sleeper as you can tell. Has anyone had this problem and had success with babysitters? My husband and I agree that we are ready to venture out now that she is getting older but are concerned that she won't be able to sleep or eat without me!!! Any suggestions or recommendations on what we can do to help her transition to a babysitter??

Thank you so so much!!

Proud Mommy to Gianna Faith! 12/30/2011 6lbs 4oz
Exclusively nursing since 12/30/2011 and going strong! The family bed
Babywearing all the time

Re: Feeding 10.5 month old who has never taken a bottle!

A baby doesn't expect to nurse when you aren't there. It's the only way YOU can get her to sleep and back to sleep. But if you aren't there she will understand it's not an option. And she more than likely won't actually wake to nurse or will wake and be comforted another way. And pehaps by the last waking you will be home. My son DID expect whoever was laying him down who wasn't me to actually lay down with him. But he knew that there was no boobs so there was no expectation to nurse.

Re: Feeding 10.5 month old who has never taken a bottle!

we also co-sleep and my kids also nursed to sleep every night. the way i looked at it-was it the end of the world if, once in a while on date night, the child never did fall asleep until we got home? our baby sitters were other moms i knew well who i traded sitting with. so i gave them our bedtime routine and ideas for general comforting (which included lying down with them as djs.mom suggests) and I also told them if the kid never slept or even went to bed it was fine with me, to do whatever worked as long as my child was comforted. (so no leaving him to cry, obviously.) sometimes they got the kid to sleep and other times they ended up watching tv with baby on the couch until we got home. it all worked out.

oh and you have your mom try a sippy or regular cup of your expressed milk if you like.